Value of Weeds as Vegetables. 



By Mary Hamilton Tabott, Washington, D. C. 



The wonderful vegetable and salad possibilities of 

 many of our common weeds are beginning to be appre- 

 ciated by Americans — our foreign neighbors have long 

 recognized their value — and perhaps many more will 

 learn to enjoy them when they know that Uncle Sam, in 

 his Bureau of Plant Industry, is recommending their ad- 

 dition to our bills-of-fare, owing to the fact that many of 

 them are possessed of even higher food values than some 

 of our familiar staple vegetables. One of his experts 

 says : "What we call weeds are no more so than other 

 plants we term vegetables ; weeds are vegetables, and our 

 so-called vegetables were once upon a time no more than 

 weeds. The classification results from a matter of habit, 

 for we are slaves of habit, and because we are so it has 

 not occurred to us that we could eat anything but just 

 the old list of vegetables that our ancestors have eaten 

 for generations. So if we will but open our eyes and peer 

 into fence cofners and back yards and wild pastures we 

 will find new and wonderful foodstuffs that we have 

 hitherto regarded as just weeds, and have in consequence 

 left most nutritious and valuable foodstuffs go to waste 

 under our eyes." A point in their favor, and one not to 

 be overlooked in these days of unprecedentedly high 

 prices, is the cheapness with which they may be secured. 



And, too, it is "better to hunt in fields for health un- 

 bought than fee the doctor for a nauseous draught," for 

 analysis of our edible weeds shows them possessed of 

 splendid medicinal properties. The dandelion, for in- 

 stance, is replete with tonic salts, and is aperient besides 

 being a natural liver medicine ; milkweed is a tonic for 

 the kidneys and a general cleanser; yellow dock is sin- 

 gularly rich in valuable organic salts and filled with heal- 

 ing, for cutaneous troubles, while red clover is one of the 

 richest of all nitrogenous plants, especially when taken 

 into the system imfired. And so one may go all 

 through the list of edible weeds and find each one pos- 

 sessed of some valuable medicinal and healing properties. 



Few housewives would think of substituting milkweed 

 for asparagus, and yet its thick, succulent shoots — which 

 may be found in almost every meadow — when cooked 

 like asparagus and served with drawn butter sauce is 

 equally as delicious, and is a valuable and most nutritious 

 food. The tender tips of the leaves of this weed make a 

 salad with a taste so unlike anything now used for this 

 purpose, when served with mayonnaise or French dress- 

 ing, that those seeking new sensations will enjoy it. 

 Milkweed should be cut for cooking when about a foot 

 high. The wild milkweed cannot be had after the middle 

 of June, as it becomes too tough and is not good in flavor 

 after the blossoms appear, but when cultivated it is good 

 until Fall. It is very easy to raise, as one may produce 

 an enormous crop by planting the abundant brown seeds, 

 so familiar to everyone in the late Fall. Sow them in 

 rows and in the Spring they will be found to be sprouting 

 up luxuriously. The plant will spring up again and 

 again from the same roots, and they may, too, be sown 

 at intervals, like peas, and thus tender shoots be avail- 

 able all summer. 



Another asparagus-like weed is poke shoot — called in 

 some parts of the country pigeonberry weed or scoke — 

 which is found on the borders of the woods in the early 

 spring. They are cooked and served the same as aspara- 

 gus, on toast with melted butter, or on toast with butter 

 sauce. They should not be used after the leaves begin 

 to uncurl. Tender blackberry shoots are used in the 

 same way. as are also the tender sprouts of brakes or 

 other ferns — in many foreign countries, especially in 



Japan. Early shoots of the bellwort, or strawbell, are an 

 excellent substitute for asparagus. The roots of this 

 plant are very palatable when boiled. 



The dandelion needs no introduction ; every child 

 knows its yellow flowers early in the Spring, and the fact 

 of its growing popularity as a vegetable is attested by 

 the increasing number of farmers who are planting it as 

 a Spring crop for market. It should be gathered very 

 young, if it is to be used as a salad, but the leaves and 

 roots may be gathered for cooking when the plant is 



ROOTS OF THE THISTLE ARE NOW BEING USED .VS A 

 VALUABLE VEGETABLE. 



quite large and spreading. The flowers are used as well 

 as the leaves, both for cooking and raw salad. When just 

 blossomed out they are tender and dehciously flavored. 

 For a salad the flowers should be pulled apart and scat- 

 tered over the young leaves and served with a dressing 

 of mayonnaise. Dandelion combined with bacon will 

 also be found an excellent salad. .After washing well 

 the leaves, place them in a salad-bowl and season with 

 salt and pepper. Cut two ounces of bocan into small 

 dice, put into a frying pan over the fire and cook until 

 golden brown, then add two tablespoonfuls of vinegar, 

 toss until hot, pour over the dandelion leaves and serve. 

 .\ny of the recipes for spinach can be used for this weed- 

 vegetable. 



The wild yellow dock is one of the most troublesome 

 of weeds, something to be rooted up and destroyed, and 

 \et this vegetable outlaw is one of the best and most nu- 



